Last resort
by Hecate28
Summary: Torchwood are used to saving people from aliens but can they save a young girl from herself? I own no rights to Torchwood!
1. Chapter 1

Captain Jack Harkness sighed as he stepped out of the S.U.V and onto a typical suburban street in Cardiff. He turned to the woman standing next to him and said "This is not going to be pretty"

"Then why are we doing this?" she said stepping onto the pavement

"Because we're the last option, after us there's nothing Gwen" and she nodded. Jack walked up to a blue front door and rang the bell wondering if it was heard over all the shouting coming from inside. Eventually the door was flung open and a woman appeared from the hallway

"I take it you've told her?" Jack said wincing as he heard the screams from upstairs

"Just get her out of here, I can't stand to look at the little bitch for a second longer" the woman disappeared into the kitchen and Jack turned to Gwen motioning for her to follow.

"Where are you going then?" She shouted over the noise

"To get our friend" Jack yelled back as he started up the staircase. As he got further up, the screaming got louder and louder. At the top Jack turned left into a small bedroom and was taken back at the scene that was laid before him. A young girl in her teenage years was standing in the middle of the room which looked like a war zone, in front of her stood Owen bearing the brunt of the foul language the was spilling out of the girl's mouth. The girl turned and looked at Jack, her face was lined with the rivers over mascara that were dripping down her cheeks which were red from all the screaming. After surveying the scene Jack steeped into the room avoiding a pillow that was thrown at him.

"Hey you need to calm down" he said firmly

"Jack I think we're way past that" Owen said avoiding a book that narrowly missed his face and Jack nodded in response and stepped forward grabbing the girls wrists firmly to stop her lashing out.

"Look at me" he said holding the wriggling girl and after a brief struggle she looked at him "Now you know what's happening and you're coming with us whether you like it or not so we can either do this the hard way or the easy way and I know which one I'd prefer" he said and the girl swore fluently at him, "Ok so we do it the hard way" and Owen nodded, he stepped forward and took out a syringe, walked towards Jack who was holding the girl and injected it into her bare arm. Almost at once she fell limp and silent. Jack and Owen breathed a sigh of relief

"Owen can you grab her stuff?" he said scooping the limp girl up in his arms and making his way downstairs, "Gwen?" he called

"Ready?" she asked as the woman who let them in followed her out

"Good riddance to bad rubbish, I'm so glad to be seeing the back of that little shit, she's nothing but trouble I should have done this months ago" she spat and it was all Gwen could do to stop Jack from answering back. Owen came down the stairs holding a bag full of the girl's clothes and they left the house.

Jack laid the girl on the back seat and Owen sat down beside her checking her vitals, "She looks so innocent" he murmured and Jack nodded as he sat in the drivers seat and drove off towards the hub.

Very soon they were back at the hub and Jack carried the girl down to the medical bay and laid her on the table.

"What the hell happened?" Ianto said entering the medical bay and looking down at the limp form.

"She didn't take it very well" Jack said sighing

"So why is she like that?" he asked looking worried

"Owen injected her with some sedative to calm her down; she'll be fine once it wears off"

Gwen entered the bay holding a file which she passed down to Jack who read it out to all the others "So here we have one Ruby Summers, born on the 28th April and abandoned on the steps of the hospital. Parents unknown but we have a nice big care file on all of the foster parents she's been with. Recently an apparent distant Aunt got in contact and took her in but as you can see that didn't work out. So Ruby was given to us for one of two reasons, number one we're sort of a last resort and number two she has the ability to use Precognition" he finished

"So why was she so angry?" Owen said looking down at the girl

"Wouldn't you be? She's been thrown around for years, no one wants her"

"And we need her because?"

"She has a power which could be very useful to us and if used in the right way could help a lot of people and she needs our help"

"You're telling me, this is one screwed up kid" Owen said looking at the file "She's been treated for self harming and numerous eating disorders"

"As I said, she needs our help and I think she deserves a bit of a break don't you?"

"But what about all the paperwork from the social services?"

"They couldn't wait to get rid of her" Jack sighed

"Hold on" said Owen "There's stuff from UNIT in here"

"Yeah they've been doing checks on her and that's when they contacted Torchwood"

"Poor kid" Owen sighed as he held one of her wrists and saw the scars of the years of self harming. Suddenly the young girl twitched, the sedative was slowly wearing off, and soon she was sitting up trying to shake the grogginess of her. After that it didn't take long for her to be screaming and thrashing about again. But this time the team were ready for her, Jack once again held her firmly and took the screaming girl out of the medical bay

"Where are you taking her?" Toshiko said

"Down to the cells, she can vent her anger down there, the cells are impossible to break out of" Jack yelled back. So he took the struggling girl down to the cells and lead her into one of them and shut the door "Now it's time for you to cool of a little" he said resolutely as he pulled up a stool and sat outside the cell. A few hours went past and throughout all the screaming, insults and pounding on the door Jack sat there silently watching the girl sadly. Owen came down after a while to sit with Jack; the girl was screaming and crying so violently that she kept having coughing fits

"Jack she needs to calm down, she's going to do herself some real damage otherwise" and Jack nodded

"Ruby" he said crouching down on the cell floor "Ruby…Ruby…Ruby... you know there's a song about you" he said with a gentle laugh to the girl who was no sitting on the floor yelling and kicking the door with some force "You don't want to talk to me Ruby well that's fine because I can got for a long time talking to myself"

"Jack I don't think that's helping" Owen said

"She'll wear herself out eventually" Jack said and sure enough the screaming subsided and eventually the kicking became weaker and weaker then it stopped.

"Now that's better, see we can talk properly now Ruby" he said calmly, "Do you know where you are?" and she nodded "Where?"

"Torchwood" she said quietly

"Do you know what that is?" and she shook her head "We catch aliens and sort out some of the stuff they leave behind"

"Oh"

"Do you know why you're here?"

"Because no one wants me"

"That's not true, we want you…you're very special do you know why?" the girl shook her head "I bet you do, you just don't know how to use it but you know there's something that's different from other people can you tell me about it?"

"Sometimes I see things that haven't happened yet" she said quietly

"See you're a very special person because not many people can do that and we can help you but you have to let us ok?"

"Ok"

"So if I let you out of this cell and we go back into the hub you have to promise me you're going to keep calm and you're going to let Owen check you over?"

"Ok" and Jack stood up and unlocked the door and Ruby stood up, and slowly Jack and Owen led her back into the hub, down to the medical bay where she sat hugging her knees close to her chest.

"So now we're calm I think we need to introduce ourselves properly, I'm Captain Jack Harkness" he said putting out his hand.

Ruby stayed still for a moment before putting out her hand and saying "Ruby Summers"

"Nice to meet you Ruby Summers" Jack smiled before introducing everyone else "You've sort met Dr Owen Harper a few minutes ago" he said gesturing to Owen "And this is Gwen Cooper" he said pointing to a brown haired woman who smiled back "This is Ianto Jones" he said continuing and a tall dark hair nodded "And this is Toshiko Sato" he said pointing to the last member in the room who gave a quick smile "So now that we're all introduced lets get to it, no you promised me that you would let Owen check you over, so whilst he does that, Ianto's going to get us some food because I don't know about you but I'm hungry"

Ruby nodded but everyone saw that she physically shrank back at the word food, Ianto, Gwen and Toshiko left the medial bay but Jack stood there with Owen as he prepared to run his tests.

"Ok so first of all I want to take some blood so can you roll up your sleeve?" and though Ruby was reluctant to do so she stuck out an arm covered in scars, as the needle went in she cried out but Jack held her hand tightly and soon the tests were done.

All three of them left the bay and joined the others up in the meeting room where Ianto had laid some food out, Ruby sat down and turned a shade of green as she looked at the food, Owen watched her carefully and said to Jack quietly "I don't think we're quite over the worst of it yet"

"How do you mean?"

"Look at her behaviour round food and the medical tests revealed the symptoms clearly"

"So we have to help her beat this thing" and Owen nodded as he watched her push the food around her plate "There's no way we can even get to looking at Precognition if we don't get this stuff sorted out first"

After a while Gwen left to go home and so did Toshiko and Ianto, only Jack and Owen were left with Ruby.

"We have to bring it up" Owen said and after a long and emotional talk Owen found that his fears were right and she did suffer from an eating disorder that was out of control which linked in with the self harming.

"We're going to help you through this Ruby, one step at a time" Jack said gently to the young girl.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day Ruby was completely silent and wouldn't even talk or look at anyone even Owen and Jack, who she had seemed to grow quite attached to, she just sat on the floor hugging her knees with silent tears pouring down her face. Owen and Jack were in the board room which overlooked the whole hub so they could clearly see what Ruby was doing

"How did it go last night?" Owen said looking down at the young girl

"She didn't even sleep for a second" Jack sighed "She must be exhausted, she hasn't slept in twenty four hours"

"We're going to have to step in again Jack otherwise she's really going to go on a downward spiral if no one helps her"

"I agree but how do we get through to her? She's not speaking to anyone"

"Just follow my lead, When I was doing my training as a doctor I came across a couple of cases like this, she just needs someone to understand her" and Jack nodded

The two of the descended down into the main hub and slowly walked over to Ruby who froze as they got nearer and nearer. Owen crouched down in front of Ruby so he was at eye level with her and to avoid making himself look intimidating

"Ruby, now you need to listen to me, you haven't slept in twenty four hours and your body is exhausted. Do you remember what we talked about yesterday, we can help you but you have to let us" he said softly and Ruby looked up at him and through a pale drawn face she finally nodded.

Owen gently and slowly stood her up and led her to a makeshift bed in one of the hubs spare rooms which Ianto had set up yesterday, he sat her down on it and said quietly "I promise you're protected here, no one can hurt you now, you're safe" and Ruby nodded as her eyes started to close and very quickly she fell into a deep sleep. Owen stood up and quietly left the room where he met Jack who was waiting outside,

"Poor kid" Jack said softly

"At least she's safe now; she can finally start putting her life together again"

"She trusts you" Jack said and Owen nodded

"All she needs is someone to take the time and understand her" and this time it was Jack's turn to nod

"She'll get through this, she's a fighter" Jack said as he and Owen left to go back to the hub.

After a few hours Ruby woke up, took a shower and put some fresh clothes on. When she walked back into the hub Jack almost didn't recognise her. She now wore a pair of black jeans with some green trainers and a black and white three quarter length t-shirt with the words dream written across it. Her hair was tied of in a pony tail which meant it was off her face and Jack could see her better, her skin was pale but her eyes shone now. A strand of hair fell in front of her face and she casually flicked it off again. This was the real Ruby once again, it looked like Owen had got through to her and that few hours sleep had done her the world of good. Owen stood beside Jack and smiled as he saw her

"Looks like you got through to her" Jack said smiling

"You were right she's a real fighter" he said

Jack took Ruby up to the board room where the rest of the team were having lunch, she sat down in between Jack and Owen, however as soon as she saw the food she turned green and tried to stand up and leave the room but Owen gently held her back

"Remember what we talked about yesterday?" he said gently and Ruby nodded and sat down.

With a little encouragement from Owen she managed to eat a small amount, but everyone could see there was a fight going on inside her. Eventually everyone got back to work and Owen led Ruby down to the medical bay so h could keep an eye on her whilst he worked. After a few minutes Ruby broke the silence and said "Owen, I can't do this I need to be sick"

"No you don't" he said turning round to face her "You can beat this thing, you're a fighter"

"I can't do it, it's too hard"

"Yes you can Ruby you have to fight the urge"

"I can't" she said bursting into tears

"Ruby look at me" he said gently pulling her into a hug "Come on you can do this I believe in you"

Jack walked into the bay and looked down at Owen and said softly "What's going on?"

"We're making progress" Owen replied

Over the next weeks Owen worked closely with Ruby teaching her to eat again and after a slow progress, a lot of tears and shouting Owen finally made a breakthrough with Ruby. Soon Ruby was back to a healthy weight and under careful and close supervision from Owen in addition to the years of treatment she had before coming to Torchwood seemed to be slowly paying off.

"Well done Owen" Jack said one evening "You really seem to be getting through to her"

"We're not over the bridge yet" he said "But we're getting there, I think her living in a stable environment helped"

"You think Torchwood is stable?" Jack laughed

"Compared to what she was living in before anyway" Owen smiled as he looked over at Ruby who had absorbed herself into reading a book "She's a good kid; she just needs someone to save her from herself"

Jack looked over at Ruby, he knew they could protect her any aliens but could they make sure she was protected from herself forever?


	3. Chapter 3

Over the next few days it was clear for anyone to see how attached Ruby was to Owen, she trusted him and he understood her. He had made progress with her and though it was long and emotional he had finally gotten her to open up to him, slowly but steadily he was helping her put her life back on track.

On one of these days Jack walked down to the medical bay to see Owen and looked around with a puzzled expression on his face

"Where's Ruby?"

"At school" Owen said whilst examining a skeleton

"You got her to go to school; do you think she's ready?"

"She has to face the world sometime, she can't hide away forever"

"So when she due back?"

Owen looked at his watch "Any time now"

And at that point the doors to the hub rolled back and Ruby quietly walked in, everyone looked up and Ruby shrank back at all the attention she was getting. Jack smiled as he looked across at her; she looked so different in her uniform. The blazer was a little too big for her and her shirt was hanging out but she looked like any average teenager and she looked happy

"Hey Ruby" he said smiling and she gave a quick smile back, she near enough ran over to the medical bay to see Owen

"How was it?" he said

"It was good" she said softly

"See I told you it wasn't that bad" he said smiling

"Did you make any friends?" Gwen said sitting on the top step

"Ummmm no….." Ruby said not looking at Gwen

"Well it was only your first day, anyway who wouldn't want to be friends with you" Owen said coming to her rescue and she smiled gratefully at him

The next day Ruby went to school happily but when she came back to the hub and they were eating in the meeting room, Owen started to worry. Ruby was pushing food round her plate and eating nothing. She quickly made her excuses about having homework to do and left.

"There's something really wrong with Ruby" Owen finally said

"Yeah she seemed quieter than usual today" said Ianto

"I'm worried, she's been doing so well I don't want her to relapse back into her old ways again" Owen said standing up

"Do you have a plan?" Jack said

"Well she won't open up and tell anyone if something bothering her, not even me so we have to go about things carefully"

So the next afternoon Owen waited outside the hub for Ruby to come back from school, he saw her walk towards the faux tourist information centre and all looked fine but then two girls wearing the same school uniform came up behind her and that's when the trouble started

"Oy freak!" one of them yelled and Ruby turned around

"You don't belong in the real world" the other one jeered "You're too weird"

"Anyway who wants you, no one not even your own mother that's how much of a freak you are" the first girl said. She pushed Ruby to the ground and her knees scraped on the pavement and started to bleed. Ruby fought back tears as the kicks and punches rained down on her until she heard Owen's voice yelling and she looked up and saw him running over to her.

"Oy you to leave her alone" he yelled

"Get lost; this is nothing to do with you"

"This has everything to do with me, now get lost before I call the police"

The two girls ran and soon only Owen and Ruby were left, he crouched down beside her and she burst into tears. Owen held her tightly gently soothing her.

Owen gently took Ruby back to the hub and sat her down so he could clean up her wounds

"You should have told one of us about this, we could have helped you" he said

"You told me I have to sort my own problems out"

"I meant little problems not something like this"

"Are you angry?" she sad looking at him through widened eyes

"No but I'm worried about you, net time you tell one of us if something like this happens again ok?"

"Ok…"

Ruby got up and left the room and Owen sighed as he watched the young girl walk past Ianto who gently smiled at her

"Why won't anyone give her a break?" Owen sighed

"You did" Ianto replied

"The only people in the world who have shown her any kindness are the people in this hub, it's not fair she didn't do anything to deserve this" Owen said angrily and got up and left the room. He knew he always had to be there for her, she had no one else in the whole world except him, she was a lost child and Owen was determined to make things right.


	4. Chapter 4

Owen walked into the Jack office and shut the door firmly behind him

"Ooh the dramatic entrance I love it" Jack said with a grin

"Jack seriously" Owen said rolling his eyes

"Sorry, what can I do for you?"

"I want to talk to you about Ruby"

"Is this about what happened earlier with those girls?"

"Sort of…" Owens voice trailed off

"Go on I'm listening"

"Jack you know what her past was like and you brought her here to give her a new start, but you know as well as I do that it's not the right environment for a young girl to be brought up in"

"So what do you suggest?"

"Well I was thinking that she should live somewhere else"

"Where did you have in mind?"

"Well not here for obvious reasons, she can't stay at Gwen's because she's got enough on with Rhys, Ianto's here with you most of the time; Ruby doesn't know Tosh that well so…"

"You think she should stay with you?"

"Yeah, Jack she trusts me and I know what she needs"

"But what about the whole precognition thing?"

"We can test for that whenever but I think out main priority should be getting her settled into the right kind of environment"

"Ok go for it, but Owen…"

"What?"

"Make sure she's safe" and Owen strongly nodded

As he walked out of Jacks office he looked around for Ruby, she was sitting on the floor doing what like science homework. Owen smiled as he saw the concentration on her face

"You know tables and chairs were invented for doing homework" he said crouching down

"I like it down here" she said looking up at him with her big green eyes

"I wanted to talk to you about something, how would you feel about coming to live with me?

"For how long?"

"For as long as you wanted, now don't worry you can come back here as much as you want and see Jack and the others but I thought you'd like it a lot better at my place so what do you say do you want to give it a go?"

Ruby paused for a few seconds but then she shook her head and gave a little smile

"Good girl" he said smiling back

That evening Owen spent his time trying to get his flat ready for a young girl to live in. He set up the spare room and tried to make it mice for Ruby; he found some old cans of paint and painted over the white walls in lilac as he knew this was her favourite colour.

The next day was Saturday and Jack came over early to see how Owen was doing

"I'm impressed" he said looking at the job Owen had done

"Do you think she'll like it?" Owen said

"Yeah she'll love it" Jack said grinning

"How is she this morning?"

"Quite excited I think you know I find it hard to read her, anyway when I left Iatno and Gwen were helping her pack"

Later that afternoon Owen went back to the hub to collect Ruby

"Ready?" he said picking up the small bag of all that she owned

"Yeah" she said nodding

"Now Ruby" Jack said walking over to her "Don't you forget about us" he said giving he a hug

"I won't" she said smiling

Owen gave her a quick grin and together they left the hub, Ruby was silent on the way to Owens flat. When they got there Owen showed her to her new room

"Do you like it?"

"It's lilac" she said smiling

"Your favourite colour, now this is your room and I want you to feel at home here ok?" and she nodded

"No one ever did anything like this for me before" she said softly

"I know…but it's your new start and I promise you don't ever have to be afraid again because I will always be here for you and now matter how you're feeling I'll always be ready to talk with you and you can always talk to everyone back at the hub ok?"

"Ok" she said and for the first time she smiled a true smile because for the first time in her life she had someone to depend on


	5. Chapter 5

"Ruby come on you're going to be late" Owen called

"Ruby come on you're going to be late" Owen called. It was Monday morning and time for Ruby to go to school. The weekend had gone well and Ruby was settling in nicely. 

All of a sudden Ruby dashed out of her room and grabbed her school bag and turning round to Owen panting slightly she said "Ready"

Owen smiled as he looked down at the young girl. Her hair was sticking up, her tie was hanging loose, her shirt was hanging out and she had a hole in her tights. He rolled his eyes and set about making Ruby look a little tidier.

Ten minutes later they had made the short walk across the bay to where the secret base of Torchwood was.

"Ok so straight after school you go to the tourist information office and Ianto will be there and he'll look after you until I finish work"

"Ok" Ruby said her green eyes shining 

"Now go on off to school or you'll be late" he said ruffling her hair with a grin.

He watched he until she turned the corner and then he started off towards the hub.

"You're late" Jack said with a smile as Owen entered the hub

"Yeah well we were running a bit behind schedule today" Owen said with a small laugh

"How is she?"

"Fine" Owen said smiling and now it was Jack's turn to smile 

"You've done a really great job with her"

"Yeah well she's a good kid all she needs is someone to understand her"

"Are you talking from past experience?" 

"Jack when I was a kid, I never had a good relationship with my parents, all I wanted was someone to understand me. You know like take the time to see how I was feeling. I was lost like Ruby and all I needed was someone to look out for me and take care of me. I was lost in the darkness but then I found meaning in my life, being here made me feel worthwhile and I just want Ruby to have someone in her life to depend on and look out for her and prove to her that there are good people in this world and in the darkest times there is always that glimmer of light even if it seems so faint it's always there" Owen said and Jack nodded sympathetically 

Later that afternoon Owen went down to the tourist information centre to meet Ruby. When he walked in he smiled as he saw Ruby. She was sitting on the counter swinging her legs as she babbled away in Welsh to Ianto

"Hey Ruby" he said tapping her on the shoulder

"Owen!" she said with a grin as she jumped off the counter

"You ready to go?" Owen said smiling 

"Yeah" she said picking up her bag 

"Hey Ruby" Jack said entering the room and Ruby smiled at him "Owen can I have a quick word" 

"Yeah sure" he said

"A weevil's got loose again and I really could do with your help catching it, they seem to be getting stronger each time and I need a least two people with me to bring this thing down"

"But Jack…I've got Ruby now"

"I know and under any other circumstances I wouldn't ask but I'm desperate"

"What about the others?"

"Ianto's coming, Gwen's on her honeymoon and Tosh is off ill I wouldn't ask but I really am desperate"

"What am I meant to do with Ruby?"

"You could…"

"No Jack, no way she is not coming with us it's too dangerous" 

"What's too dangerous" Ruby said walking up to Owen 

"Nothing" Owen said 

"You told me I could trust you so why are you lying?" she said with her eyes wide

"I'm not lying…Jack needs my help to catch this creature but I can't because I don't want to leave you and then Jack said that you could come along but I think that it's way to dangerous…"

"But Jack needs your help and you told me that you should always try and help people who need your help"

"I know but this is kind of a different situation sweetheart" Ianto said gently 

"But…" 

"Owen look I need your help and I promise you I will keep her safe when have I ever let you down before" 

"Fine but Jack…"

"What?" 

"If anything happens to her then I'm holding you responsible ok?" 

"Ok"

"Ruby come on we're going and I want you to stay close to me at all times ok?"

"Ok" she said biting her lip 

As Owen walked out into the bay a cool wind had picked up. As he glanced about he had a bad feeling in his stomach. Something was wrong. Very wrong.


	6. Chapter 6

Owen sat in the back of the SUV trying to fight away the bad feelings inside of him

Owen sat in the back of the SUV trying to fight away the bad feelings inside of him. Next to him sat Ruby who was quiet as usual. Occasionally Owen would lean over and brush Ruby's hair out of her face and she would squirm whilst he did it. He noticed that Ruby was a lot more fidgety than usual but he put it down to the bad experience of being in the SUV before.

"Ruby try and sit still" he said for what felt like the hundredth time

"I can't help it" she murmured

"You're such a fidget do you know that!" he said smiling

Soon they were at the place where the weevil had last been sighted. Owen jumped out of the SUV and went straight to Ruby's side

"I want you to stay with me at all times do you understand?" he said

"Yes" she said nodding energetically

"I mean it Ruby no running off, you go exactly where I tell you to"

"Ok" she said looking nervous.

Ruby shivered slightly and Owen gave her a quick hug "It'll be ok Ruby, we'll get it over and done with and then we can go back home" he said comforting her. This seemed to work as Ruby's expression softened and her body relaxed more.

"So the weevil was last seen around here" Jack said pointing "So it can't have gone far, we know they're not the most athletic creatures ever so it should be quite easy to spot but be on your guard" he warned. Ianto took out his gun in preparation but as soon as he did Ruby shrank back behind Owen

"What's up sweetheart?" Jack said kindly

"She's not best keen on guns" Owen said stroking Ruby's head gently

"Ruby" Jack said crouching down before her "its ok sweetheart, that gun won't hurt you, Ianto has it on safety which means it can't be fired. I promise you, you're perfectly safe"

Ruby nodded and came out a little from behind Owen. "Promise?" she said quietly

"I promise" Jack and Ianto nodded in agreement

"Come on lets get going" Owen said taking Ruby's hand. And the four of them walked off into the darkening evening

After an hour searching they still hadn't found the weevil and Owen noticed that Ruby's pace was slowing down considerably

"Jack it's been over an hour now and Ruby's freezing out here" Owen called

"Owen's right we've searched everywhere and there's no sign I think we should quit whilst we're ahead" Ianto agreed

"Ok we'll head back to the SUV and figure out what to do there" Jack said turning back.

All of a sudden a growl was heard in the distance. Owen shut his eyes as he recognised the call of the weevil. He felt Ruby press closer to him in fear

"Hey it's ok" he said holding her tight

"I don't like it here, I'm scared" she whimpered

Owen went to reply but before he could a weevil burst out from the darkness and ran straight towards them. Jack had been right about them getting stronger as this weevil was running faster than any weevil Owen had seen run before. Owen grabbed Ruby's hand and pulled her away from the weevil. Jack pulled out the weevil spray and Ianto got out his gun just in case the spray didn't work.

"Owen get back to the SUV as fast as you can" Jack said throwing him they keys. Owen caught them and pulled Ruby along back the way they'd come from to the SUV

"Come on Ruby" he said pulling her along

But suddenly Owen felt her hand fall out of his. She'd fallen down onto the concrete. He stopped and picked her up, as he touched her hands he could feel the blood seep through from the grazes but he couldn't treat them till they were out of danger. Owen heard a deep growling behind him and turned around. They were surrounded by five weevils, all growling and bearing their teeth

"Owen" Ruby cried as the weevils crept closer

"Ruby stay absolutely still and don't move until I tell you to" Owen said

He took her hand and moved her back slightly "Ruby when I say three I want you to run as fast as you can till you get to the SUV" he said pressing the keys into her hands

"Ok" she said her voice thick with tears

"One…two…three" Owen yelled and Ruby darted away from him towards the SUV. Owen shot at the weevils and most of them were scared away by the noise of the shots. Owen looked over and saw in the distance that Ruby was nearly at the SUV but before she got there another weevil jumped out. This weevil caught Ruby by surprise and she couldn't react in time to jump out of the way. Owen heard Ruby scream in pain as the weevil dug its claws into her side. He ran over as fast as he could, shooting at the weevil as he ran. The weevil ran off into the distance and Owen finally got to Ruby who was now hysterically screaming and clutching her side

"Ruby, it's ok sweetheart I'm here now, ok now let me look at your wound" he said lying her down on the ground "Lift your head up a bit" he said putting his jacket underneath her head "Good girl, now let me look at your wound" but Ruby just held her side tighter and thrashed about

"Owen what happened" Jack said running over looking breathless and he was soon joined by Ianto

"We were surrounded and this weevil caught Ruby off guard and really sunk its claws into her" he said trying to get Ruby to remove her hands from her wound

"Can we help at all?"

"Jack, hold her head still for me and Ianto can you get those swabs ready for me. Ruby listen to me sweetheart I need to look at your wound now" he said grabbing her arms to stop her thrashing around

"It hurts" Ruby cried

"I know but the sooner you let me look at your wound the sooner I can make it stop hurting" and that was enough persuasion for Ruby as she let go of her side. Ianto took one of her hands and held it in his comforting her the best he could. Owen got some scissors out of his bag and cut away part of Ruby's school shirt so he could see what he was dealing with. He pushed some swabs onto the wound to try and stem the bleeding which was getting heavier by the second. After a couple of minutes Owen lifted the swabs up to see if the bleeding had lessened. Owen sighed in relief as he saw that it had but this was short lived as he saw how much blood she had already lost

"Ruby" he said "Ruby you've lost a lot of blood and you're going to feel really sleep but you mustn't go to sleep ok?" but there was no answer

"Ruby" Jack said still holding her head in his hands "Come on Ruby open your eyes and look at me" and sure enough after a few seconds a pair of eyes flickered open

"Owen?" she murmured groggily

"I'm right here Ruby, Jack don't let her close her eyes"

"Stay with me Ruby" Jack said

Owen checked the swabs again the bleeding wasn't as bad but they needed to get her back to the hub as soon as possible. Owen rummaged in his medical kit until he found some pain relief and filled up the syringe.

"Ruby you're going to feel a sharp scratch, but I promise that you're going to feel a lot better"

"I don't like injections" she cried

"I know you don't but you have to be really brave and I promise it'll be over really soon"

"I don't like injections"

"Please Ruby, this is like when you first came to Torchwood and we took a blood sample, there's nothing to be scared about Ianto and Jack are both with you"

"Ok…"

"Good girl, on three then…one…two…"

"Wait can we go on four?" she cried

"Ok four it is" Owen smiled " one…two…"

"Argh!" Ruby screamed as Owen pushed the syringe in "That wasn't four"

"Yeah but anticipation is the worst part" Owen said gripping her hand "How do you feel now?"

"A bit better" she said

"Ok Jack we need to get her back to the hub quickly" and Jack nodded and on Owen's count they gently lifted Ruby onto the back of the SUV. Jack drove off with great speed towards the hub. Owen sat in the back checking Ruby's vital signs.

"Not long now Ruby" he said stroking her hair

"Owen?" she mumbled

"Yeah"

"Am I going to die?"

"No sweetie because I'm going to make sure you're ok and do you know what that would looks a lot worse than it is"

"Don't worry Ruby, Owen's a really good doctor, he'll take care of you" Jack said

"You're going to be fine Ruby just hang on in there for me" he said stroking her head softly "Just hang in there,"


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as they got back to the hub Owen took Ruby over to the medical bay and set her down on the metal table

As soon as they got back to the hub Owen took Ruby over to the medical bay and set her down on the metal table.

"Ok Ruby, you're doing brilliantly, I just need to have a closer look at your wound" he said as he took a few steps away from the bench

"Owen, don't go!" Ruby cried

"It's ok Ruby, I'm just over here. I just need to put some gloves on before I examine you, I'll only be a few seconds and Jack's right beside you"

"You're going to be fine sweetie" Jack said holding her hand.

Sure enough Owen was back and he gently removed the swabs from the Ruby's wound, on her stomach were some nasty looking slash marks from the weevil, Ruby titled her head up to see them and her eyes turned wide in fear as she saw her wound

"It's ok Ruby, it looks a lot worse than it is" Owen said as he caught her expression "Now I need to clean up your wound and I'm not going to lie to you, this is going to sting but you have to be really brave for me Ruby"

As gently as he could Owen set about cleaning her wound. Ruby whimpered when he touched it too hard but other than that she just bit her lip and bared the brunt of the pain

"Good girl Ruby, I'm all done now" he said as he put the final stitch in her side "It's going to be sore for a few days though and you're going to have to keep it really clean" he said as he put a dressing over it

"It hurts" she said still clinging onto Jacks hand tightly

"It will for a bit, but I can give you some pain relief when it gets really bad" Owen said stroking Ruby's head. She tried to sit up but Owen gently pushed her back down "You need to get some rest, you've been through a lot today"

"I don't want you to leave me"

"I'll literally be just out there" he said pointing "Ianto will stay with you. I need to have a word with Jack" he said giving Jack a dirty look

Ianto took Owen's place next to Ruby and Owen and Jack left the bay and stood where they were just out of earshot

"You promised me Jack!" Owen hissed "You promised you would keep her safe"

"I know…"

"She could have died!"

"Owen"

"Jack she's just a child"

"I know and Owen I don't know how I can ever apologise enough, I didn't expect there to be that many weevils"

"She shouldn't have been there in the first place!"

"I needed you there"

"I have Ruby now to look after and she comes first"

"Owen this is your job!"

"And I'm her guardian, she needs me" Owen yelled and Jack knew there was no argument he could speak to convince Owen that this was just an accident

"Owen I'm sorry…"

"Whatever Jack…" he said walking back to the medical bay

Ruby smiled as she saw Owen "Owen!" she cried

"Hey Ruby, how're you feeling?"

"Sore"

"Yeah, you're going to feel like that for a few days but you've been so brave today and I'm so proud of you"

"Owen?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you and Jack still friends?"

"Ruby…"

"Is he going to hit you?"

"What do you mean, where did this come from?"

"When I lived with my Aunty and she got angry with me she hit me"

Owen felt a lump rise in his throat as he hard this "No Ruby, No ones going to get hurt. Me and Jack are friends; it's just that we're both worried about you getting hurt"

"So you're not going to hit each other?"

"No, look don't worry about it, you just concentrate on getting better"

"Ok"

Ruby laid her head back down and her eyes drooped with sleepiness, soon enough she was asleep and Owen gently left her to talk with Jack and Ianto

"She thought we were going to hurt each other" he said quietly to Jack

"Where did she get that idea from?" he said looking confused

"Her Aunt hit her when she lived with her" Owen said sadly

"Oh god…" Jack said with tears brimming in his eyes

"Jack I'm sorry…"

"It's me that should be apologising; I had no right to put her in danger like that"

"It's just that…"

"I know Owen, you care about her, you don't need to apologise for caring for Ruby" and Owen nodded.

The next day Owen let Ruby get up and walk around a bit "Take it steady" he said holding her gently

"Hey sweetie" Jack said walking into the medical bay "How're you feeling?"

"Better" she said clinging onto Owen

"Are you taking her back to your place?"

"Yeah, this young lady is having a strict regime of bed rest and relaxation for the next few days" Owen said smiling at Ruby

"Ahh Ruby, you should milk this for all it's worth!" Jack smiled "Let him spoil you for a few days, you deserve it"

"Don't encourage her!" Owen laughed "Come on Ruby, lets get you home"

"Owen…"

"Yeah?"

"Take a couple of days off work, make sure she gets the care and attention she needs"

"Thanks Jack" Owen said nodding as they left the hub

"He really cares for her, doesn't he?" Ianto said as he watched Owen leave the hub with Ruby in tow

"He's a great parental figure and he's a great influence on her"

"But how's he going to balance this job with being a dad?"

"We're just going to have to see" Jack said, but inside he was worried if Owen could handle it all.


	8. Chapter 8

It had been two weeks since the weevil incident and Owen had spent those weeks making sure Ruby's wounds were as clean as they could be

It had been two weeks since the weevil incident and Owen had spent those weeks making sure Ruby's wounds were as clean as they could be. This involved cleaning them every day and re-stitching them where necessary. Owen made sure Ruby got lots of rest and for Ruby this was the worst possible scenario. Ruby was a fidget by nature and seemed to have bundles of energy all day, every day. Owen spent most of those two weeks telling Ruby to sit still whilst he cleaned and checked her wounds and she spent most of those two weeks squealing whilst he checked her wounds

"Ruby!" Owen said as she squirmed away from him "Sit still, you're not making this any easier for me"

"I can't" she squealed

"You're exasperating do you know that?" he said trying to keep her still

"But you still love me" she said putting on the puppy eyes

"Mmm just about" Owen said smiling as he put a clean dressing on the wound "There done. You're healing up nicely and clearly feeling a lot better!"

"Can I go now?" she said starting to wriggle again

But before Owen could answer, Ruby jumped down from where she was sitting and ran towards the door

"Where are you going now?" Owen said looking exasperated and Ruby turned and smiled and pulled the door pen. There stood Jack just about to ring the bell. He looked down at the young girl who had a big smile on here face

"Jack!" she smiled

"Hey!" he said reflecting her smile "Hey Owen, I just wanted to show you some scans we took of this alien, I can't make heads or tails of them"

"That's fine, hey Ruby don't you have homework do?"

"Oooh can't I stay" she begged

"This is going to be really boring trust me" Jack said flashing one of his smiles at her

"Fine I'm going" Ruby said with a false pout

Owen waited until Ruby had gotten out of earshot before saying "Thanks Jack, she's been impossible lately, I have no idea where she gets that energy from"

"It's the smile, no one can resist it" Jack laughed

"Anyway I'm assuming you didn't want to talk about some alien scan?"

"Not really, I wanted to talk to you about Ruby"

"What about her?"

"Well you're really close to her…"

"And?" Owen said defensively

"Let me finish before you jump down my throat!" and Owen nodded "Anyway what I was going to say is that, it's great that you've been there for Ruby but we need you back at work"

"Jack she's a kid, she's not something I can just drop when I'm busy"

"I know and it's clear that you're having a hard time juggling both things"

"It's fine Jack. I'll be back into work tomorrow. I can cope with everything ok?"

"Ok but if you need any help, all you have to do is ask ok?"

"Thanks Jack but we're fine" and Jack nodded before standing up

"Bye Ruby!" he called

"Bye" her voice called back and Jack left Owen's flat

A few minutes Ruby reappeared and sat down next to Owen on the settee, snuggle up to him.

"Why are you sad?" she said looking up at him

"I'm not"

"Yes you are, you're eyes look sad"

"Ruby do you like living here?"

"Yeah!"

"And do you like living with me?"

"Yeah!"

"Then I'm not sad"

"Good" she said nestling in closer to him

"It's just you and me kiddo" he said stroking her hair

"Against the world" she murmured and Owen smiled like he hadn't done in a long time


	9. Chapter 9

The next day Owen got up early to get ready for work

The next day Owen got up early to get ready for work. He was just walking into the kitchen when he realised it was quiet; Too quiet. He turned back and walked to Ruby's room and peered round the door. Inside under the mass of blankets and duvets he could see Ruby's foot hanging out of bed and her body half hanging out of bed.

He sighed but the expression couldn't last for long,_ why could she not sleep like a normal person?,_ he thought as he bent down next to Ruby and tried to rouse her from her sleep

"Ruby, it's time to get up", a muffled mixture of a groan and a mumble was the reply. Owen tried several times but the answer was still the same, finally he pulled the duvet off her and was met was an angry yet sleepy glare

"Too early" Ruby whinged her voice full of sleep as she attempted to pull the duvet back from Owen

"Ah no you don't, come on get up you've got school" and Owen left the room with the duvet in tow.

From the kitchen he could here Ruby muttering to herself as she got changed and washed ready for school.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1" Owen mumbled under his breath and sure enough when he got to one Ruby came hurtling into the kitchen slipping over on the floor in the process "Ruby be careful" he said spouting the phrase he had to use at least fifteen times a day

"I am" came the reply as she picked herself up and dusted herself down

"Now I'm going back to work today so after school you go…"

"…straight to the tourist information office and wait till you come" Ruby said interrupting and rolling her eyes

"Oy don't you roll your eyes at me!" Owen said trying to sound authoritative but Ruby just burst out laughing

"You worry too much" she said twirling a stand of hair around her fingers

"And you don't worry enough" he said giving her a playful push "Now come on school now"

And with a dramatic flounce Ruby half jumped and half fell off the seat she was sitting on and scampered out of the door ignoring Owen's cries to be careful.

About ten minutes later Owen left the house for work still smiling from Ruby's attempt to be melodramatic and when he got to the office he was still smiling so much that it seemed unnatural to the rest of the team.

"What are you so happy about?" Ianto said as Owen passed him

"Nothing" he said flashing him a grin "Hey is it still ok that Ruby's going to wait in the front office until I finish?"

"That's fine you know I love to see her and she's as good as gold"

Owen snorted with laughter "Hmm why don't I ever see that side of her then?"

"Owen" came Jack's call "Can I have a quick word with you now?" and Owen left Ianto and traipsed into Jack's office

"Welcome back" Jack said flashing him one of his famous smiles

"It's like I've never been away" Owen said sitting down

"So how's everything at home?"

"Fine, why wouldn't it be?"

"No reason…you seemed a little flustered yesterday"

"No Jack I'm fine and as I said yesterday I'm coping fine and so is ruby. We're both fine" he said the anger rising in his voice

"I didn't mean anything by it I was just asking"

"Yeah well don't because me and Ruby are perfectly fine ok"

"Ok but if you need any help…"

"We don't Jack" Owen said storming out of Jack's office with a scowl across his face.

For the rest of the day Owen avoided Jack as much as he could and his bad mood followed him around all day and it wasn't until he left to go down to the tourist information centre and saw Ruby sitting on the desk that his mood lifted. She immediately jumped down with a big grin on her face

"Hey" she said flashing him a big grin

"Hey you, hope you haven't been causing Ianto any trouble" he said looking at Ianto

"Nope she's been as good as gold" Ianto said putting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a quick squeeze

"Good! Now you ready to go because when we get home I want to check that wound of yours again…" but Ruby's groans interrupted his sentence

"You fuss too much" she said with a mock scowl

"Didn't we have this conversation this morning?" he said "Anyway it's only because I care"

"You still fuss too much" she said as he gently pushed her out of the door

"Come on lets go and less of the mouth please while you're at it" he said shaking his head

Ianto watched them walk across the bay until they were out of sight and when he turned around Jack was standing behind him

"How long have you been there?" he asked

"Long enough" Jack sounded deep in thought

"What's the matter?"

"I don't think he's coping"

"What makes you say that?"

"He seems distracted and nearly bit my head off when I offered help"

"He's a proud man you know he won't ask for help"

"I know and that's what worries me"


	10. Chapter 10

Ruby was walking home from school after netball practise humming gently to herself. For once in her life everything was going well. She turned the corner and smiled as she basked in the last of the suns rays. Behind her came a shadow creeping closer and closer towards her. But she was so wrapped up in her own thoughts she didn't see it or hear it before it was too late.

Owen stood in the hub checking his watch every five seconds looking worried "Where is she?" he murmured

"She not back yet?" Ianto said coming into the room

"No she said she's be back by five and now it's nearly six"

"You sure she's not just running late you know what Ruby's like" Ianto said

"Yeah but not this late" Owen said with panic in his voice

At that moment Ruby stumbled in through the door all pale and clammy "Owen" she murmured

"Ruby...Ruby what happened?" Owen said grabbing her before she fell

"Owen bring her into the hub" Ianto called opening the door.

Owen scooped Ruby up and he could feel her pulse getting weaker and weaker with each step he took. As they burst into the hub Jack looked up shocked

"What happened?" he cried as Owen ran towards the medical bay

"I don't know we just found her like this" Ianto called

"Is she hurt?" Jack said runnig down the steps

"No i don't think so" Owen said checking her over "God she's burning up" he said feeling her head

"What's that it looks like bite marks?" Ianto said pointin to two marks on her neck

Jack leaned over to get a better look "Oh god" he breathed

"What? what is it Jack?" Owen said looking up

"Shadow Weaver" he gasped

"What's that?" Ianto said looking worried at Jack's expression

"Owen i'm sorry" Jack said

"Why what is a shadow weaver?" Owen shouted

"A shadow weaver is a shade that latches onto it's victims mind and takes oart of it away at a time"

"What does that mean?" Ianto cried

"It means it's stealing her mind" Owen shouted and Jack nodded "Is there a cure?"

"Yeah but you wont like it"

"Tell me Jack"

"She has to forget everything that's happened to her recently"

"That means..." Ianto sighed

"Torchwood and me" Owen bit his lip in anguish

"I'm sorry it's the only way" Jack said placing a hand on Owen's shoulder

"Do it" he said tears falling down his face "If she gets to live then just do it"

"Ok" he said "I'll give you two a moment" he said montioning to Ruby

Owen nodded and walked over to Ruby "Ruby, Ruby listen to me"

"What's happening?" she said looking scared

"Ruby you're going to be just fine, it's just a little infection. You're going to be fine. Jack's going to give you an injection that's going to make you go to sleep for a bit and i promise you it'll be all better after that, do you trust me?"

"Yeah i trust you" she said calming a little

"Ruby i just want you to remeber somthing ok...you are a worthwhile human being and don't you let anyone tell you anything different and i want you to know that the world isn't as dark and scary as you've experienced. There are good people in the world and as long as there are you will never be alone" he said trying not to cry and Ruby nodded

"Like you" she said smiling as Jack came down the steps

"Ready?" he said to Owen and he nodded

Jack looked down at Sammie and said "Just a little scratch and it'll all be over"

"Ok" she said as Jack injected her

Owen held her tightly as the liquid took effect and she slowly dropped into a deep sleep

"She's going to be ok now?"

"Owen she'll be fine but she'll never remember"

"What will happen to her?" Owen said

"She'll go back into the foster system but i made sure she's got a good social worker this time" Jack said as he looked down at Ruby and Owen nodded

"But she will never remember any of this?"

"She can't Owen that's the sacrfice that had to be made" Jack said pulling Owen into a hug as the man wept on his shoulders.


	11. Epliogue

3 months later

Ruby walked across the bay smiling she turned her head and saw two men standing together and she smiled at them. The man in the army coat smiled back and the other man with darker hair and a black leather jacket looked sad. Ruby thought she almost recognised him like somthing from long ago in a dream but she dismissed the thought and carried in home.

"Is she happy?" Owne asked

"Yeah, she has a good foster family now and they're planning on adopting her properly. She has two sisters and a dog called Gizmo now" Jack smiled gently

"That's good" Owne said sadly

"She's doing well at school and has got good proper friends now" Jack contuined "Owen she has a life now isn't that what you wanted?"

"I want her to be happy Jack and if that means i wont be well that's fine" Owen said turning to go back inside the hub.

Jack sighed as he watched Owen.For a few weeks Owen had seemed human again but that was the life of Torchwood if you stood too closed you got burned. But that was the life they chose to lead and sacrfices had to be made.


End file.
